When an electromagnetic wave is totally internally reflected, it takes on a phase shift. Inside the optically less dense medium, where ray optics tells us there is no field, there is rather an evanescent field. This field is wholly analogous to quantum mechanical tunnelling, which is the penetration of a particle’s wavefunction into regions it […]
10 Feb 2014 No Comments
Tunnelling in Total Internal Reflexion and Evanescent Fields
When an electromagnetic wave is totally internally reflected, it takes on a phase shift. Inside the optically less dense medium, where ray optics tells us there is no field, there is rather an evanescent field. This field is wholly analogous to quantum mechanical tunnelling, which is the penetration of a particle’s wavefunction into regions it […]
by Rod Vance in Optics, Physics Tags: Evanescent Field, Goos-Hänchen Effect, Goos-Hänchen Phase, Goos-Hänchen Shift, Total Internal Reflexion, Tunnelling, Tunnelling Field